What does a qualification letter mean?

My daughter just received a qualification letter from West Point admissions that says they have reviewed her file, that she is fully qualified, but still needs a nomination. Does this mean if she receives that nomination, she will get in at West Point? Thanks for any feedback and clarification.

Being fully qualified with a nom means that she has met the requirements for an appointment but does not necessarily mean that she will receive one. There are more fully qualified candidates with a nom than there are slots in the class. For example, in the 2015 class about 1000 were fully qualified but not offered an appointment.

Assuming that she is not qualified for a Service Connected nom (Presidential, ROTC etc) -
IF she is #1 on any of her MOC's slate that she applied for, then yes, she will receive an appointment.

If she is #2-#10, then she will go on the NWL and will be ranked on that list based on her WCS.
WP will offer appointments off the NWL to fill the class.

That's the Readers Digest answer to your question. If you want more details - just ask.

NWL - National Waiting List:
- Title X of the US Code mandates that WP must admit 150 candidates from the NWL by WCS
- fully qualified (which includes being medically qualified) non-vacancy winners of MOC nominations will go on the NWL
- IOW - if you are on the NWL, then you are fully qualified (scholastically, physically{CFA} and medically{DoDMERB}) AND have a MOC nomination
- about 450 slots of the class will come from the NWL
- the NWL helps WP achieve their class composition goals thereby making sure the class has a balance of athletes, minorities, leaders, scholars, etc.
- continue to update your file (even if you have a LOA). The more points you can add to you WCS, the higher you move up on the NWL. Update your file anytime you receive an award, honor, named Captain of a team, lettered in a sport, improved ACT/SAT scores, leadership activities etc.

Is the Qualification Letter the same thing as an LOA? I.e., does an LOA contain the words "Letter of Assurance" in it? Just trying to parse out the differnce here, if any. Thanks.

Click to expand...

DS recieved a single letter in a business envelopeback in mid September. The first paragraph reads: "Congratulations! The Admissions Committee has recommended you for an appointment to the United States Military Academy (USMA). Accordingly, I have reserved a cadetship for you contingent upon receipt of a nomination and continued excellent work in school. When these matters are resolved, you will be appointed a member of the USMA Class of 2016."

Nowhere in the letter does it use the words "Letter of Assurance"; however, we take it that this is indeed what the letter is. It goes on to encourage DS to visit the Military Academy and gives him the name of his primary contact at West Point.

DS received the same letter. However in the third paragraph, where it talks about the overnight visits it does say ". . . overnight candidate orientation visits for candidates who have received this letter of assurance". So the words "letter of assurance" are in the letter DS received.

DS received the same letter. However in the third paragraph, where it talks about the overnight visits it does say ". . . overnight candidate orientation visits for candidates who have received this letter of assurance". So the words "letter of assurance" are in the letter DS received.

Click to expand...

That is interesting and also a little concerning hearing everyone talk about LOA and to have our letter not use those words while others do. It makes me wonder if there is any possible way that we could be misinterpreting the letter, except it does state that once he receives a nomination , as long as he has continued excellent work in shool, "you will be appointed a member of the USMA Class of 2016." The letter is from Deborah J. McDonald, Colonel, U.S. Army, Director of Admissions.

I would not be concerned at all. From everything you have posted it is the exact same letter. Just reread the third paragraph.

Click to expand...

Nope, it absolutely does not state letter of assurance anywhere. The 2nd paragraph encourages a visit. The thrid is simply the information for our contact person. The final paragraph says that "this letter is sent only to outstanding candidates deserving an offer of admission, your accomplishments to date should be a source of special satisfaction to you and your family. Best of luck in becoming a West Point cadet." I wish that it used the words "Letter of Assurance" but the opening paragraph could not possibly be more clear. Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that the nomination comes.

I asked our Regional Commander today for clarification on what these Qualified letters meant, since I hadn't seen them at this point in the process in previous years. This is his reply:

As soon as LOAs were complete I began working on sending complete files for qualification. What is a bit different from last year is that I am working much faster and focusing on pushing people for Qualification as rapidly as I can. The Admissions Committee reviews each one and then stamps it Qualified or Disqualified. When they come back Qualified, we send a letter telling them so. If they are not medically qualified yet, then they get a letter saying they are Academically and Physically Qualified, only.

When the nominations come in, if a Fully Qualified person is eligible for an offer (say, as a Vacancy Fill or as one of the top candidates in the nation as a Qualified Alternate), it is one quick button-push to get them slated. They should get offered the appointment at the next Admissions Committee meeting, which is every Tuesday. If that same person was not yet sent through for qualification, it would probably take at least 2 weeks because they have to wait in the queue to get reviewed by at least 3 separate people.

The WCS is a numerical score given to each candidate based on the components in their file.
The NWL is a list - one list - where candidates, who did not fill a nom vacancy, are placed and ranked top to bottom based on their WCS. Appointments are then awarded off that list to fill the class.

My daughter also received a fully qualified letter from USMA this week. Do you think the fact that her file was reviewed in the first session is a positive sign of good things to come?

Click to expand...

There is a process to be deemed 'Qualified'.
Once a candidate's file is complete, their RC will review the file. If everything looks good, then it is forwarded on to a Admissions Committee member. Once they review it and everything in the file looks good to them, then they forward it on to another RC who does this review process.
Once a file has been through this 3 check process and it all looks good, then that is when the candidate gets a 'you are Qualified' letter.

Your DD's file was reviewed as this point in time because her file was complete and ready for review. Now she needs a nom and medical qualification ( if not already).